With the recent crop of remakes, it seems only fair the
our old buddy Rygar return from his 16 year old arcade machine.
Anybody old enough will remember the man with a yo-yo as you
killed many monsters to get the coveted High Score. Well,
nowadays gameplay like that is considered ancient, but with
recent advancements in technology, Rygar is getting his due.
Does Rygar stand the test of time? Yes he does, in more ways
than one.

When you first boot this up you're treated with a beautiful
CG cinema which introduces you to the game's hero - Rygar.
You soon learn that he's a legendary warrior in the city of
Argus, and after his town is over run by monsters called ''Titans'',
and his princess Harmonia is captured, we see him inherit
the legendary weapon known as the Diskarmor. Soon afterwards
we lead him on a journey to save Harmonia and restore peace
to Argus. Along the way you'll bump into a lot of creatures
heavily inspired by Greek and Roman mythology. This is the
perfect story to bring out the original Rygar's mythical roots.

In terms of graphics, Rygar shines. This is one of
the prettiest games I've ever seen on any console. With the
lush environments, which create a certain ambiance similar
to Ico. The character models are sharp
and detailed. If I had one problem in this department, it's
probably with the variety of enemies - there aren't many of
them. I wish developer Tecmo could have added a little bit
more. Minor problem aside, this is nothing short of a technical
achievement, and should be worshipped by graphics hounds everywhere.
The extremely destructible environments are also breathtaking,
and is one of the key elements in solving puzzles and finding
hidden items sprinkled throughout the adventure.

The audio also sets the perfect tone for the game. The lovely
opera pieces have been handled by the Moscow Philharmonic.
Each song sets a different mood for each of the levels and
the boss battles. You'll hear the music go into a fast-paced
dramatic score when you're pursued by oncoming monsters, which
will keep your heart pumping. The music adds to the title's
Greco-Roman style, and is one of the best that I've heard
aside from some of Hironobu Sakaguchi's work. The characters'
voice-overs could use some work, but you hear them so infrequently
that it's not really much of a problem.

The gameplay is astounding. Coming into this game having
only played the demo beforehand, I was expecting something
more along the lines of Devil May Cry.
Where you kill an endless amount of enemies, but after a couple
of hours in, you'll uncover some hidden depth. With 3 different
diskarmors, each with their own set of combos and moves, and
summon spells that were obviously inspired by the Final
Fantasy series, this is deeper than your typical action
game. Through this adventure, you'll find multiple jewels
that attach to you diskarmor, these sometimes increase you
vitality, the strength of your attacks, or the length of your
weapon. Finding these jewels is unnecessary to complete the
game, but are always fun to toy around with.

The only game I can compare Rygar to is the Castlevania
series, and maybe Devil May Cry. If you could imagine
Castlevania: Symphony of the Night in a 3D world, then
you've got an idea of what Rygar has to offer in terms
of gameplay. It's a perfect blend of action, puzzle-solving,
and adventuring. While it's pretty short, it's still tons
of fun for any fan of the two games previously mentioned.

One major problem I had throughout Rygar were the
camera angles. Yeah sure, they added to the dramatic sense
of Rygar. But they were a serious issue when it came
to gameplay. Many times you'll find yourself trying to hit
enemies you can't see. Or missing a jump because the camera
angle just changed directions. This was very annoying, especially
in some of the heated boss battles. The problem can also be
found in such games like Devil May Cry of the Resident
Evil series. I hope Tecmo can clear this up if they plan
a sequel or another action game like Rygar.

While the game is relatively short (about 7-9 hours for the
average player) it is backed up by some cool extras like art
galleries, music, cut-scenes and 4 difficulty levels. Another
kooky unlockable is the ''Pizzarmor'' - after you beat the
game once, you're treated to a funny unlockable diskarmor
that looks like a pizza, hence the title ''Pizzarmor''. Trying
to unlock everything makes for about another 15 hours of play
time.

With plenty of unlockables, action packed gameplay and awesome
graphics. This is a must-buy for an action/adventure fan.
But with the short play time, this is a tempting rental for
everyone else.

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